Commercial Fishing Tips | Winter roach with Tom Edwards

Going for commercial fishery carp in the depths of January is the ultimate angling gamble. A combination of clear, cold water, changing air pressure and low temperatures often means that even if there are a few fish in front of you, the likelihood is that they might not feed.

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That means several hours spent bored witless waiting for a bite out of the blue. It does little to fire the enthusiasm for a return trip, but there is another way to get the best out of fishing in the cold – and that’s setting your sights a little lower for small fish.

Roach, rudd and skimmers might not put up much of a fight compared to a big mirror or common, but they can be relied on to save a blank and can give you a surprisingly good day’s sport.

Scaling down tackle and changing from pellets and corn to maggots on the bait menu will not only catch these silver fish though – F1s and even the occasional carp will move in to investigate what those roach are getting so excited about.

That all adds up to the potential for a lovely mixed bag. Don’t think that the roach you catch will be tiny, either. Often, on commercials, they are chunky things that will soon see you put a weight together.

In matches on my local Lake Ross fishery, 15lb of roach added to a handful of carp and F1s can see you picking up a few quid. Get it all right and the fishing will be a bite-a-chuck, interrupted by that exciting moment when the elastic pulls out of the pole that little bit more from a big fish.

Bites are the name of the game here and there’s nothing better for keeping the cold and boredom at bay than seeing the float go under on every single drop-in!

Pole or waggler

There’s nothing to stop you from catching on the float, but I find that it’s a little too inaccurate to give you a bite a chuck, so the pole has to be the winner.

You’ll not catch really short though, even in mild weather. Coloured water and a comfortable 13m distance is perfect to keep the roach happy and hunting about for your hookbait.

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Don’t wait too long

The key to this type of feeding is to have your hookbait among the maggots dropping through the water so, in theory, you get a bite just as the rig settles. So I don’t leave the float sat there once it has cocked. The chances of a bite are far less than if the single maggot on the hook is falling.

When the rig has settled, I’ll wait 30 seconds before lifting it out and laying it back in again over the loosefeed, and this is the pattern the day will follow. It’s a busy way to fish but it keeps the cold out and it’s much better than willing a quivertip to go round!

Strung shotting

In clearer water, I’m convinced that fish watch a hookbait fall and then drop down to take it, so you need to make the bait behave in such a way that they’re given enough time to make up their mind. A bulked shotting pattern on the rig is out of the question – a spread of shot in the bottom third of the rig allows the bait to fall slowly past the roach.

The fewer shot you can use the better, so the float needs to be light. In perfect conditions, a 4x12 Preston Innovations F1 Maggot is ideal and takes six or seven No10 shot spaced a few centimetres apart from the hooklink upwards. By laying the rig in sideways and keeping the line tight to the float, the bait will fall slowly and you can read every indication from a fish.

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Light rigs are a must

Although there’s the chance of hooking a carp, I’ll ride my luck and fish light because I know this will get me more bites in the long run. Even then, you’d be amazed what you can land with light gear provided it is balanced and you take your time.

Mainline thickness is not so important and 0.16mm Frenzee FXT Loaded is fine, but what’s closer to the fish is key, so a 6ins hooklink of 0.10mm Silstar Match Team and a size 20 Drennan Silverfish Pellet hook are just the job. 

Matched to a light hollow elastic (I use Frenzee’s Stretch in the green 6–8 grade) I’ll not bump many roach and still have enough in reserve to land a carp or an F1.

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Bait choice

I find casters too selective when I’m fishing for bites, even though they are a brilliant roach bait – so it has to be maggots. 

A single red grub on the hook will get the fastest bites, but there’s no harm in trying a double from time to time for a better fish. Maggots are also the only thing I feed, but I introduce them into the swim in two very different ways…


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Start with a pot

Ideally, I want to loosefeed maggots, but that’s a little too gung-ho to begin with. 

Until I can work out how many roach are in front of me and how well they are feeding, I’ll feed with a small pot on the pole, trickling in 20 or so maggots on each drop-in.

If there are lots of bites, then the catapult comes out and the same 20 maggots are fired in each time. These spread over a wider area and give me more chance of attracting a carp or F1 as opposed to using the pot.

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Roach fishing tips | Fish a short line to catch more roach

Winter carp fishing on commercials can be a frustrating thing.

Sit on a load of fish and you’re quids in, but if you pick a peg that’s only average in terms of big fish, it can mean a good few hours of numbing inactivity between bursts of catching.

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Let’s be honest, we all go fishing to catch a few fish, but the reality in winter is that what we hook every time isn’t always going to be big enough to stretch the elastic or put a decent bend in the rod.

This is where having a swim at short range to catch everything that swims comes in useful.

These fish may be roach and skimmers, but compared to wasting an hour waiting for a carp to turn up, that’s perfectly fine in my book. Indeed, on matches at my local Decoy Lakes complex, having a short maggot line is essential. Not only can you catch silver fish to keep the weight ticking over, but it’s also highly likely that bigger fish will turn up here at some point in the day.

F1s and barbel will be the most likely candidates but carp are also regularly caught just a few metres out in winter, making this short line an absolute must to factor into your plan. It’s also much more comfortable to fish and feed at this range if the wind is blowing.

Stick to maggots

Because you’re trying to catch everything that swims, you need a bait and feed that appeals to a wide range of species. Pellets and corn are too selective at this time of year, so the obvious choice is maggots. 

My approach revolves around getting a bite every chuck, and to do that you need to use maggots. One drop-in could catch a small roach while the next could be a hand-sized skimmer and then perhaps a double-figure carp. A few pints of reds are all you need on your bait tray.

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Positive feeding

There’s no place here for negative feeding, so every minute or two I’ll throw in by hand 30 maggots or so. My thinking is that if the fish are sat there but aren’t interested in feeding then you can trigger a response by sparking their curiosity at a trickle of bait going through the water. 

If there are plenty of feeding fish about, though, this amount ensures that enough remains to satisfy any bigger fish after the roach have had their fill. 

Best hookbait is a single or double red maggot.

Keep it short

All I get out of the bag for the short line is a pole top kit and two sections. This is typically where you’ll find the deepest water on 99 per cent of commercials. The ideal depth I’m after to make my approach work is 5ft-6ft. 

Balanced tackle

There’s every chance of hooking a few carp along with the F1s and bigger skimmers so you can’t fish super-light. 

I’d go for 0.14mm mainline to an 0.10mm hooklength and a size 20 hook combined with softly-set No3-No5. Big fish just tend to plod around when hooked at this time of year, so take your time with them and you’ll bank pretty much anything on balanced kit.

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Positive rig

Use a set-up with a bulk of shot for speed and positivity which will catch the bigger fish better. A 0.5g rig with a bulk around 12ins from the hook and a couple of small droppers below is perfect.

River fishing tips with Dave Harrell

Top river angler Dave Harrell has been answering some of your most burning questions. Take a look at see what you can take out onto the bank with you this weekend.

BLOCKEND OR OPEN?

Q) Which is the best sort of feeder for chub fishing in the winter? I’ve got blockend and open-end but I am never sure which to use. 

A) I would go down the blockend route with maggots while it’s cold. Chub love maggots, and if they’re hungry they won’t be able to resist! Use a long tail of around 3ft to 4ft if bites are slow. 

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ARTIFICIAL MAGGOTS

Q) Is it worth trying artificial maggots? They look so realistic but I’ve yet to use them as hookbait. 

A) They’re well worth trying if you are being pestered by small fish, as you know there will always be something that looks edible on the hook. I’ve caught a lot of chub and barbel on pleasure sessions with this tactic, using one or two artificial maggots. Bear in mind that artificial baits are banned in matches but allowed in pleasure sessions. 

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RIG PROBLEMS

Q) I keep getting tangles when I use Bolo or Avon floats. I use three or four shots below the olivette but it’s frustrating, as the line ends up in a bird’s nest as often as not! What am I doing wrong? 

A) You need to change your shotting pattern for starters. Just use an olivette 2ft from the hook with one dropper fixed 10ins above the hook and it wont tangle. 

If it’s windy, always cast off the side that the wind is blowing to, as this, too, will eliminate tangles.  

BEST PERCH BAITS?

Q) I fancy doing some river perch fishing before the season ends. What baits should I use?  

A) Perch are greedy fish and they will eat all livebaits, but for best results use chunks of lobworm or even a whole one. Perch love them! 

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CANE OR HOLLOW TIPS?

Q) Am I better using painted cane or hollow tips on my Bolo floats? I always thought that cane was supposed to be the best. 

A) I used to use painted cane tips, but don’t carry any now. Hollow tips are the best, as you can see them so much better, especially if there is any sun on the water.  

WILL I CATCH BARBEL?

Q) I’ve been following water temperatures on the River Severn matches Facebook page and it’s been between 4°C and 5°C recently. Will I be able to catch barbel with it as low as this? 

A) While not impossible, I think you could be in for a struggle trying to catch barbel until the water warms up. You’d be better off targeting chub while it stays cold, and going for barbel when it’s up to at least 8°C.

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SPECI WAGG OR TRUNCHEON?

Q) I fish a lot of fast-flowing rivers but I’m confused about waggler choice. Should I use a Speci or Truncheon design? 

A) If your swim is fast and shallow (3ft to 4ft) you should use a Speci Waggler, as the short design is perfect for these depths. 

If your swim is over 4ft and up to around 8ft deep the Truncheon Waggler is better because it is longer and easier to control, especially if it’s windy. 

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SHOULD I TRY TARES?

Q) I love catching big roach and had a lot of success with seed baits in the summer. Is it worth using tares on the hook in the winter? 

A) I, too, love big roach and have caught loads on tares in the summer months but not in winter. I think you’re better off using maggots or casters when the temperature is down. 

WHY SOIL?

Q) I’ve noticed that you use a lot of soil in your groundbait mixes. Why is this?  

A) I’ve used soil in my groundbait for many years. It gives the mix weight, which is important if the river is flowing quickly. I add about three pints of soil to two 1.5kg bags of groundbait. 

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Top feeder fishing tips to catch more silver fish.

Modern-day feeder fishing is far removed from even 10 years ago.

 Advancements in tackle, bait and anglers’ understanding of how the fish react make this tactic every bit as complex as running a waggler down a river or coaxing out shy-biting roach on the pole.

The two-day Preston Innovations FeederMasters final at Bough Beech Reservoir was a prime example, with anglers having to fish for both skimmers and smaller roach. Here, winner Adam Wakelin reveals how he did it by keeping busy…

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Spodding

“Spodding is a big development in feeder fishing, using a large baiting up or ‘bosher’ feeder, as I call it, to pile in a lot of feed in one go. I took a dedicated spod rod and a big pit reel loaded with spod braid. 

“I put in four litres of bait in 15 minutes – Ringer Baits Natural and Dark groundbait plus corn and micro pellets. The idea was to pull the bream and skimmers into the peg and to keep them there.”

Top hookbaits

“Four or five dead maggots and hair-rigged corn were best on Saturday, whereas on Sunday I dropped right back to three maggots or a couple of redworms.

“On the short line, single maggot was best for the roach.”

What goes in the feeder

“This was very different on each day because of the size of fish I was after. On day one I had my best chance of a weight from the natural bank, and there had been a lot of perch about, so I decided to feed corn and micro pellets.

“On day two, perch were fewer and the skimmers smaller. This meant changing to a classic bream feed of chopped worm, casters and dead maggots.”

Feeding strategy

Each day was very different.

Saturday was the day for a good catch, so I gave the fish plenty of feed through the ‘bosher’ to help build the peg up. 

However, at around 2pm the peg went dead so I made the decision to put in four more ‘boshers’ of bait to re-start the peg, and it got me four fish in the last 30 minutes.

This was effectively the feeder equivalent of re-balling when fishing the pole.

Sunday was different and more about small fish, so the ‘bosher’ wasn’t needed, mainly because I felt I’d catch skimmers early and late – time spent baiting up would have meant fewer fish in the net.

Feeders

I used several. My primary feeder was a Gordon Simm weight-forward cage in 50g or 60g but I picked two different widths, depending on the wind.

In good conditions, the wider feeder flew nicely but when the wind got up on Sunday, the narrower feeder was miles better. 

The third feeder I used was a Guru Distance Feeder, which came into play when I wanted to introduce more particles.

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Distances to fish

I went for 60m on both days for the long line as this was a nice, comfortable cast for both the feeder and bosher. I could have come shorter in the wind on Sunday but because the dam wall area of Bough Beech is shallow I felt that the fish would be sat further out as opposed to closer in. My short line for roach was at 16m, a typical line fished by anglers on the pole.

Fish a waggler on clear rivers and catch more

It’s a sad fact that so many opening weeks of the river season coincide with low and clear water.

Thoughts of bream-filled keepnets evaporate and the day often ends up to be a case of scratching around for a few bites. The tactics and feeding you had in mind before getting to the bank go out of the window.

You could carry on, hoping that things change, but this rarely works. The obvious answer is to set up something totally different.

In most situations, this means abandoning the pole and changing over to running line float tactics to get further out into the swim and offer a very different presentation of the bait. 

England international Cameron Hughes is your guide to fishing the waggler on a slow, clear river. 

Why the waggler rules

“On a summer river that’s in need of rain, the fish will always be in the flow, not out of it where the pace is sluggish. 

“This flow tends to be well away from the bank, where activity can spook the fish, and when deciding where to feed and fish the waggler I always ensure there’s a great enough distance away from any other line I may have on the go so that I’m not running the risk of splitting up the fish in the peg. I really want two dedicated areas that won’t get in each others’ way.

“The waggler also allows me to cover so much water by running the float well down the peg, which you can’t do with the pole. 

“Also, there’s not the shadow of the pole being cast across the swim, which in shallow water can be the kiss of death.”

Fish and feed downstream

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“Don’t be tempted to cast and feed directly in front of you. 

“There are two reasons for this. First, the bulk of the fish will be naturally downstream of where you’re sitting and second, casting slightly down the river means you can get all the line behind the float and let it run smoothly. 

“I may be looking at running the float around 40 yards down the river – any further than this will be a waste of time. There won’t be many fish there, owing to the loosefeed hitting bottom in a rough area on the trot. 

“Past this there will be little feed carried downstream and therefore no fish. 

“I’ll feed a pouchful of maggots on each run through, fishing double white or red maggot on
the hook.”

Light tackle is a must

Although there’s the chance of big fish you can’t fish too heavy on the waggler or you won’t get bites. 

Typically I fish 2.5lb Maxima mainline to a hooklink of 0.12mm Daiwa TDR Rig Line and a size 18 Kamasan B520 hook. This gets me more bites but means there’s less chance of landing big fish, whereas going all out with a size 16 and 0.14mm line will mean next to no bites. It’s amazing what difference these small changes makes.

The float is a 2.5g loaded Drennan Insert waggler that has just a few No8 shot spread down the line and I fish this 18ins overdepth to really slow the bait down and drag it through the swim. 

I also ensure that the shot nearest the hook is off bottom, otherwise this would lead to the float being dragged under if it was resting on the riverbed.

Big fish time

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When small fish bites cease this normally means that a big fish is about  – usually a perch or a chub on a low, clear river such as the Trent. Although I fish relatively strong gear, getting a big fish in is no done deal, especially where a peg has lots of weed close in.

Using a long rod will help you no end and I fish a 15ft Daiwa Tournament which not only lets me control the float better when running it down the river but also permits a hooked big fish to pop up further out into the swim, away from the weed, ready for netting. 

The trick is to get the rod above the fish and pull them up. Stand up to do this and try to net them first time.

50 Amazing river fishing tips

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I don’t know about you, but for me the closed season has really dragged on this time and I can’t wait to get back on running water again! 

We’ve had a decent amount of rain over the past few weeks and this has put some much-needed colour and pace back in the rivers. They’re looking good for the start. 

Over the course of the season ahead I’ll be visiting loads of different waters. 

Some I already know, but I always enjoy going to new places too and we’ve got some great venues lined up for features. 

I hope you enjoy readingthem as much as I’m looking forward to doing them. 

To get the new series started here are 50 ideas, tips and tactics that you might like to try once the season gets underway. 

Over the next few weeks we’ll be looking in depth at how to put bigger catches together using a variety of different approaches. 

HOLD ON TIGHT! 

Barbel are probably the most exciting river fish to catch. Most people just use a static bait with a feeder or leger rig but it’s more exciting to catch them on float gear, especially in fast water!  

DON’T IGNORE MAGGOTS

Maggots are not fashionable with a lot of anglers these days but fish still love them! I never leave home without some. 

get comfortable

River banks are seldom as level or manicured as those on commercials. So make sure your box platform is level and that everything is easily to hand before you start fishing.

DOT IT DOWN

Roach and dace require delicate presentation. Shotting your float so that just the merest dimple is showing is often necessary to hit shy bites.

FEED TO RESPONSE

On venues where small fish aren’t so plentiful, always feed to response. If you’re not getting many bites, ease up.

TARGET STRIPEYS!  

Loads of venues hold big perch now. Pole fished worms will sort out the big boys! 

GO LONG

Pole fishing keeps everything tight and precise. You’re always back in the same spot, and careful feeding can bring big rewards in terms of regular bites! 

FISH LIGHT! 

To catch roach, you often need to fish ultra-light with 0.08mm hooklengths.
It can mean the difference between catching and not. 

ASK QUESTIONS

If other anglers are catching more than you are, don’t be afraid to ask for advice. Most people will be happy to help you.  

WATCH A MATCH

This can be a fast track to learn about a venue. You’ll quickly learn about approaches and tactics by watching good anglers doing their stuff. 

FISH A MATCH

If you’ve often fancied it but never done it, make this season the one to fish your first match. Your first pick-up will feel fantastic! 

BUY A FRIDGE

Maggots can be expensive, especially when you need a lot, so don’t waste them. Invest in an old fridge (or two, like me) and always ensure your bait is chilled right down. 

TURN OLD MAGGOTS

Old maggots kept in damp sawdust will turn into casters within a few days in the summer months. You’ll need a couple of good riddles to keep running the bait through.  

PLAN AHEAD

I’d be lost without my wall planner. I use it more than a diary now and it really helps me to plan my season ahead. Well worth investing in a new one every year! 

FEED PLENTY! 

Many of our rivers now have loads of small fish in them and you often need to feed a lot of bait in order to attract bigger fish in. Bulk your bait out with 4mm carp pellets if it’s a problem for you. 

Buy A BARROW

I’d be lost without my platform barrow. I use it on all sort of venues and often carry far too much gear with me, just because I can! 

TRY NEW VENUES

Make the coming season a more interesting one by trying different venues out. New places offer new challenges!  

Tail eXPERIMENT

On certain days a 5ft tail can catch you fish when a 3ft one won’t. Always experiment! 

PUT A LOBBY ON! 

Lobworms are brilliant for all fish when the water is coloured. Use them whole or in segments. 

TRY MEAT

Fish such as barbel and chub love smelly luncheon meat. It’s a bait that too many anglers now ignore.  

FISH STRONG! 

Where big fish are the quarry, make sure your lines are up to the job. There’s no point hooking big fish if you’re going to lose them! 

TRY A SPECI WAGG

If you fish venues where there is fast, shallow water, you will catch more fish on a Speci Waggler than any other rig! 

GO SHALLOW

Too many anglers ignore the upper layers when waggler fishing in deep water – a big mistake if the fish are coming up to intercept the feed.

REDFIN HEAVEN! 

Roach are my favourite species of all time. I’ll be heading to some favourite early season stretches with hemp and tares as my main bait choices. 

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TRY CARP PELLETS

I’ve had loads of success with these. I feed 4mm and 6mm and use an 8mm pellet on the hook.

SPLADOOSH! 

Swimfeeders can account for some huge bags of fish in the summer, so don’t ignore this tactic if your river of choice is carrying colour. 

HAPPY DACE! 

Find some fast, shallow water and there’s a very good chance you’ll find a lot of dace as well. There has been an explosion of these fish in recent seasons on big rivers like the Severn.  

BOMBS AWAY! 

There are times when a straight leger rig with a bomb can outscore a feeder, especially when there are a lot of bream in front of you. 

Use A TRUNCHEON

Like Speci Wagglers, Truncheons are very buoyant and work best in fast water where you need a longer float.  

LAY A TRAP

Always give yourself somewhere to go if your main line of attack slows down. This might mean feeding big baits somewhere different. 

SMALL BLOCKS OF TIME

Split your sessions into 10- and 15-minute intervals. Try different things in these periods until you discover how the fish want the bait presented. 

TRY KRILL PELLETS

This is great bait for river barbel when the water is coloured. Use 4mm offerings in
a feeder with an 8mm pellet on the hook.

KEEP IT ON TOP! 

For good presentation with float gear you must use a floating line. I use Pro Float in breaking strains from 3lb to 8lb. 

GET IT SUNK

For swimfeeder and sunken line floatfishing on slow rivers I use Pro Feeder line in 3lb to 14lb breaking strains. 

Hooklength choice

For hooklengths I always use Pro Rig in diameters from 0.08mm to 0.26mm.  

IN-LINE OLIVETTES

For big-fish rigs I use
lines from 0.16mm to 0.22mm and In-Line Olivettes from 1g to 10g.  

STOCK UP ON SHOT

Too many anglers go fishing with insufficient shot. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen this happen. No excuses, you just need to stock up! 

JOIN A CLUB

Club fishing can be a great way to learn, as well as forging new friendships. Your local tackle shop should be able to put you in the right direction in terms of who to contact. 

TRY WORMS

All fish love worms, so make sure you carry at least half-a-kilo of dendrobaenas with you to every river session.

ON-LINE OLIVETTES

For fine mainlines of 0.12mm and 0.14mm I always use On-Line Olivettes from 0.60g to 6g. These are locked on to the line with silicone rubber and are easy to move without line damage.  

USE A CATTY! 

If you need to get your feed out a long way, always make sure you have a few catapults and spare elastics with you. 

GO FOR CHUB! 

Like barbel, chub love pacey water in the summer months. You can catch them on all sorts of baits, but float tactics work best for big weights.  

TRY AN AVON

A great float for pacey rivers with good depth close in. Use with an In-Line Olivette and 5lb to 6lb mainlines. 

BABY BOLO!

There was a time when Bolo fishing was all about big floats, but not any more. They now go down to just 1g for swims 5ft to 6ft deep. 

BALL IT in! 

Several big balls of groundbait at the start of a session can draw a lot of fish into your swim quickly! 

 DISH THE DIRT

Soil is a great addition to groundbait when you need to get it down quickly. I always have some with me for river sessions. 

Bag up on silverfish and bream by visiting your local reservoir!

The UK is home to dozens of giant reservoirs where you will struggle to see the far bank due to the sheer size of the venue.

While there is no doubt that the prospect of fishing such a huge expanse of water is daunting, the sheer numbers of fish they often hold means they are well worth your attention. But just how do you go about locating the shoals in a fishery of that size and then persuading them to feed? England star and Preston Innovations-backed angler Lee Kerry has all the answers…

Target species

“If you are looking to get away from carp and F1s then a big reservoir could be right up your street. Roach, bream and skimmers often feature heavily on waters like this, and they can be anything from small hand-sized fish to lumps that would easily smash your personal best!

“Look in Angling Times to check match results and see which species is dominating, or speak to local anglers and tackle shops to help gauge the situation.”

Tactics

“The biggest shoals are likely to be well away from the bank, so a feeder approach is often best on big reservoirs. If it’s bream you are looking to catch, a simple groundbait feeder will often outscore anything else.

“Some anglers might think that for bream you need to put in a lot of bait immediately, but this isn’t the case. I prefer to build a feeder line up gradually, casting every few minutes with a small or medium-sized feeder. There’s no need to use light tackle because a lot of the fish won’t have been caught before.

“I’ll often have a 2ft-long hooklength of 0.13mm Preston Innovations Powerline and a size 16 hook. Thick lines are stiffer and lead to fewer tangles.”

Bait

“A dark groundbait is always best for bream and skimmers, as I believe they spook a lot more readily over a light bed of feed.

“My favourite mix is Sonubaits F1 Dark, as it has a strong sweet smell and is packed with fishmeal that skimmers can’t get enough of. I will also add some finely chopped worms and a few casters to the mix to keep the fish grubbing around. “It’s a matter of trial and error when it comes to hookbait – maggots, pinkies or even a worm can all have their day.”

Search the swim

“If bites don’t come quickly, it can be tempting to pile a lot more bait in to gain a response, but it is often better to explore your peg a little. Casting just 10 yards further could put you in deeper water, and that is where the fish could be held up. It may take a short while to find the shoals but if you’re on pegs that have form, you’ll never be far away from a hungry shoal.”

How can I catch big roach?

Ever wondered how you can catch big roach? Well you are in luck as many lakes now contain fairly big roach as they get to feed on leftover boilies that are meant for carp. The good news is that winter is often your best time to catch them, simply because many of the smaller fish won’t feed in the cold weather.

Why not try a helicopter rig? It’s easy to make, and all you need to use with this rig is maggots. However, there are one or two tricks you can try to increase your chances of a personal best...

Four ways to get more from your maggots.

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1) Riddle the maggots when you get them home to remove any dead ones as well as the old maize they are supplied in.

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2) Add powdered maize flour to coat the maggots evenly. Maize softens their skins but will need replacing every few days.

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3) Add a teaspoonful of liquid pineapple flavouring. The citrus esters in pineapple flavour are loved by big roach.

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4) Don’t pack maggots into the feeder on a cold day. With room to move, they will easily crawl out of the feeder holes. 

Best floats to use while roach fishing

High water levels and very low temperatures have kept most river anglers out of action for a couple of weeks... but good news is on the way! 

Levels have dropped now and the long-range forecast predicts rising air temperatures. When this happens, my attention turns towards roach at this time of the season. They can be very fickle some days and you could be forgiven for thinking there are none in front of you, but when they do switch on you could be in for your best silver fish catches of the season!  

You need to time your trips to coincide with these days so always keep an eye on the temperature and use the River and Sea Levels website to get familiar with the various levels up and down your favourite rivers. I’ve got all the gauge stations stored on my mobile phone so I can easily check them at any time. 

All you need to do is type in the venue and if there’s a gauge nearby, it will come up: https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/river-and-sea-levels

To help you try and identify the rigs you need for this time of the year, I’ve selected a picture of a typical roach river. 

As you can see from the rigs I have chosen, the depth varies and most of the flow is down the middle and across the river.

The Rigs

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4ft DEEP, SLOW FLOW

LINE AND HOOK: 3lb (0.14mm) Pro Float main, size 20 hook to 0.08mm or 0.10mm Pro Rig hooklength

FLOAT: 4No4 Alloy Stem Shouldered Stick  

This is the area that I would save to the very end of the session but I would fire two or three maggots or casters in every minute or two for the whole session. I’d rarely feed more on this close-in line as we might only fish there for an hour so we want the fish to be hungry and competing. This line of the river and the last hour before dark go together. Set the rig at full depth and ease the float through very slowly. 

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11m to 13m POLE LINE, 6ft DEEP, MEDIUM FLOW

LINE AND HOOK: 3lb (0.14mm) Pro Float main, size 20 hook to 0.08mm or 0.10mm Pro Rig hooklength

FLOAT: 0.60g DH17 pole float with strung-out No8 shots. Position bottom shot 10ins from the hook 

ELASTIC: Yellow Daiwa Hydrolastic

Your presentation should be perfect at up to 13m with the rig on four or five sections of pole. Set the rig to just touch bottom, but experiment with it up to 6ins off bottom or slightly overdepth and held slightly in check. Feed three or four maggots and a few grains of hemp every minute or two.  

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THREE-QUARTERS ACROSS BOLO LINE 8ft DEEP, MEDIUM FLOW

LINE AND HOOK: 3lb (0.14mm) Pro Float main, size 20 hook to 0.08mm or 0.10mm Pro Rig hooklength

FLOAT: 1.5g or 2g No4 Bolo with olivette set 18ins from the hook and a single No8 shot 10ins from hook 

Feed four to six maggots every cast on this line, as there should be plenty of fish here, especially if the river has some colour. The beauty of the Bolo is that you can fish it with good presentation even in tricky downstream wind conditions as long as you the right-size float.

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THREE-QUARTERS ACROSS WAGGLER LINE, 8ft DEEP, MEDIUM FLOW

LINE AND HOOK: 3lb (0.14mm) Pro Float main, size 20 hook to 0.08mm or 0.10mm Pro Rig hooklength

FLOAT: 3AAA or 4AAA Straight Peacock Waggler

Always cast this rig downstream, as you’ll have perfect presentation immediately and no bows in the line to pull the float off course. Start off feeding light but step it up as the fish respond. Six to 10 maggots should be enough. 

Dave Harrell's top 10 tips for fishing in 2018

The new year is now upon us and with it comes a time to reflect on what I have learn't over the past 12 months. Every time we reach that point where we think we’ve got everything worked out, someone comes up with something new in terms of tackle or tactics. So here are my top ten fishing tips for you to take in and use during 2018. 

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1) Feel the power 

Last year I worked with Daiwa on a new range of rods. Two of these have very quickly become favourites for floatfishing for barbel and big chub. 

Too many so-called ‘power’ rods are far too stiff for big fish, particularly when you’re using small hooks, but the Tournament RS 13PF and 14PF are perfect big-fish tools. I use them with 6lb (0.20mm) to 8lb (0.24mm) Pro Float lines and strong size 14 to 10 hooks, and have landed loads of big fish with them.  

2) Step it up

Over the course of this series, I’ve written many times about ‘feeding to response’ and most of the time it’s good advice to heed. 

If you’re getting loads of bites, keep the feed going in – but if bites are slow in coming, ease back and try not to overfeed. 

This is always my advice when you’re fishing for roach, dace and chub, but I had to do it differently to catch barbel in the Severn Float Championship. On four of the six matches I was in trouble going into the latter stages. Bites were at a premium and light feeding was producing very little.

I took the gamble to feed heavily for the last 90 minutes in all four matches and it paid off for me, with barbel boosting my catches each time. Some called it lucky, but is it luck when you’re fishing for barbel in a certain way and it works?

3) Cup it in!

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If you’re on a venue where bleak can be a problem, give plenty of thought to how you are going to put your groundbait in, as it can attract bleak from miles around! They home in on the splash of the balls going in and quite often you can’t get rid of them once they arrive in your swim. 

The answer? Cup the groundbait balls in instead of throwing them. It’s a trick the regulars on the Thames circuit do, and it works! 

4) Go hollow

For years I used solid elastics, but over the past 12 months I’ve got into the lighter grades of hollow Hydrolastic. I now use it for all my river work, including yellow for all my light hooklength and small hook work. It’s been much better than the elastics I used to fish with.

5) Go long

I used to think that 14ft feeder rods were a gimmick, but in situations where you need to cast a feeder a long way and keep as much line as possible out of the water, they’re well worth investing in. 

The extra length allows you to position the rod so that there’s less drag on the line from the current than you get with shorter rods. 

6) Fill it up

Here’s a tip that will save you money! When you’re filling a reel spool, either use a whole 300m spool to fill it or use backing line and just wind 100m on. 

After a couple of months of use, reverse the line on to a second spool and the line that ends up on the top is brand new! 

7) Tare it up 

Hemp and tares have probably accounted for more big weights of roach than any other baits over the past few summer and autumn seasons. 

I’d never go to a roach venue without at least half-a-pint of tares and a pint or two of hemp. You can loosefeed plenty of hemp but only feed a few tares every two or three put-ins. 

Slip one on the hook after an hour of using other baits and don’t be surprised if you get a big roach straight away!

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8) Put on a lob 

I never used to have much confidence in lobworms as hookbait but all that has changed. For the past few seasons lobs have been my ‘go-to’ bait when a river is carrying colour. I use them whole or in different length pieces. When a perch or chub grabs hold, you very rarely miss them!  

9) Don't ignore meat

Luncheon meat fell out of favour after pellets were introduced to our main rivers more than 15 years ago, but it’s now making a big comeback. 

I’ve found Bait-Tech Poloni meat to be perfect for barbel and chub in coloured, and sometimes clear, water. 

10) Halibut surprise

ONE bait that has been accounting for loads of big roach everywhere is 4mm halibut pellets – two-pounders love them.

It’s not uncommon to catch big redfins on quite crude gear once they’ve switched on to the loosefeed. 

The best way to attach halibut pellets is to lasso them. 

Top 10 tips to catching on a river in winter.

After a long spell of relatively mild weather, we’ve suddenly been plunged into winter! Air and water temperatures have dropped dramatically over the past couple of weeks, and river fishing has become a lot harder as a result. 

The good news is that it won’t take the fish long to get used to the lower water temperatures, but it will be important to keep a check on both levels and temperature in order to get the best results between now and when the season closes. We've asked river maestro Dave Harrell to give us his top 10 ways to catch on a river in winter. 

1) FLOATING LINES

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One of the biggest mistakes anglers make when floatfishing on rivers with flow is to use a sinking line. It’s a recipe for disaster, as you won’t be able to control you line properly. 

I use my own Pro Float lines. These are perfect for river fishing as they float really well and allow you to get maximum control over your float. 

There’s 300m on a spool so you can fill most modern day reels with one shot – alternatively, you can fill up to three reels with 100m on each if you use backing. 

A big tip I can give you with reel lines is to get into the habit of reversing the lines on to a different spool after a month or two. This will result in the line on the top being ‘new’ again. 

I often get asked how often reel lines should be changed, and while there are no hard and fast rules, I tend to change mine, or reverse them, every couple of months or so. 

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2) FISH THE ‘CREASE’

In cold weather the ‘crease’ of a river – the area where the slow water close in meets the faster water further out – will be a haven for big roach! On some days you can get good catches by fishing this side of the crease when bites are hard to come by past it. Always experiment in both areas. 

3) FLOAT SIZES 

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My old Shakespeare captain Ken Giles once explained to me about the importance of ‘bossing the river’ with float gear, and it’s one of best things I ever learnt. Too many anglers use floats, especially wagglers, which are much too small. 

Make sure you can cast to where you need to be EASILY and then you will be able to beat elements like wind and flow. 

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4) SLOW IT DOWN

When you’re using rigs attached top and bottom it’s often useful to slow everything down by feeding the line off the reel with your fingers. 

Try to do this without moving or jerking the float and you will eventually slow down the hookbait and make it much more appealing to fish than just letting it whizz through.

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5) FISH OVERDEPTH

Wagglers are great floats for fishing at distance but they can be difficult to control, especially when there is a downstream wind.

You can overcome these conditions by using thick-topped Truncheon wagglers and putting extra depth on the rig. The thick tops of these floats are really buoyant and will pull the hookbait along the bottom without the float constantly dragging under.  

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6) FEEDING

In cold water don’t go mad with the feed but don’t stop altogether or fish won’t respond. Start with around 10 maggots every cast then feed to response.

Sometimes, just three or four maggots every run through is enough. When you consider that there are around 3,000 maggots in a pint you won’t need much feed for a whole session.

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7) CASTING

When you’re fishing wagglers at distance, always cast the rig downstream. Imagine a clock face and cast to the one o’clock or two o’clock position. 

This will put your rig in the right position to get perfect control and enable you to beat the current. If you cast directly in front you will be constantly fighting a bow as the line pulls in front of the float. 

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8) BACKWIND RIGS

Once you’ve mastered  this technique you will definitely catch more fish on days when you are faced with considerable depth and flow. 

Use a rig between 4g and 6g. Once it’s in the flow, engage the bail-arm and slowly wind the handle backwards. This is a great method for Bolo and Avon floats.  

9) BLOCKS OF TIME

Give yourself five or 10-minute blocks of time fishing at a certain depth. This might be six inches on or off the depth, or more subtle 1ins-2ins changes. 

Eventually you will find the ideal depth the fish want to feed at, and hopefully you can then cash in for the remainder of the session!   

10) DON’T GIVE UP! 

Over the next few weeks, the best time of day to catch fish will be during the last two hours, so don’t worry if you’re not catching from the off. Keep feeding lightly and be prepared for the best action as the light starts to fade. 

 

 

Steve Ringer's: 6 BIG lessons learned in 2017

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1) you’ve got to have window feeders in your box

This year I have to admit I’ve spent a lot of time fishing the feeder, and perhaps the biggest lesson I have learnt while doing so is the effectiveness of the window feeder (pictured left).

This was particularly apparent during the Feedermasters final at Bough Beech. As the two days wore on, I worked out that while a cage feeder was great for drawing fish into the swim, when it came to catching them the window feeder reigned supreme.

The way to fish it seemed to be to have 4-6 quick casts on a cage feeder, leaving it out for two minutes at a time to try and pull in some fish, then switch to the window to drag them down to the bottom and catch them.

A window feeder releases very little bait when falling through the water, so once the fish are there it helps to get them down on to the bottom.

As soon as bites tailed off I simply switched back to the cage feeder to start the process again! The only downside to the above lesson is that I didn’t work it out sooner!

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2) unclip and move to keep catching

This was something I picked up on during the Daiwa Cup over on the Szeged Rowing Course in Hungary.

The Daiwa Cup is a feeder-only match and I’d had a brilliant start to the day, catching carp quite steadily.

However, with two hours to go the swim totally died. I was clipped up at 16m, and as time ticked away I felt I had to try something different, so I took half-a-metre off the clip, clipped back up, and cast out again.

This meant I was now fishing off the back of my bait and it was a move that worked a treat.

After not having had a bite for 30 minutes I promptly got one within 30 seconds!

I continued to use the little edge for the rest of the match – nicking two carp, then moving another 50cm out.

I think that as the carp became spooky they were simply backing off, so by keeping on the move I was able to pick them off.

I was fortunate enough to catch sufficiently well to win the match and the impressive trophies that came with it!

I’m convinced that if I’d had stayed put on the original line I’d have struggled for a bite for the rest of the match.

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3) feed then cast, not the other way around

I picked up this brilliant little trick for bomb and pellet fishing from Paul Holland while we were filming the Fishing Gurus TV series earlier this year.

It’s actually something very simple yet at the same time something I had never done, and as soon as I saw Paul doing it, it made perfect sense to me.

He was feeding first, then casting into the feed circles on the surface – right on top of the loosefeed.

This way he knew that every time he cast out he was fishing right in amid his feed.

This is something I now always do and I’m totally convinced I catch a lot more fish as a result.

If you think about it, it’s a bit like pole fishing. You pot your bait in and then put your hookbait in the middle of the loosefeed. Feeding first allows me to replicate this while I’m fishing the lead.

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4) sometimes you have to go find the fish!

It was the first round of the winter league at Guru Makins and I was on Thames Pool, peg 17. Two hours in I had just one carp to show for my efforts and I honestly felt the swim was pretty much empty, so I decided to revaluate my approach.

The only fish I could see moving were past the angler on my right, with nothing moving to the left.

Luckily, the angler on my left was fishing short and down the edge, so if the fish moved they could do so freely along the far bank.

With that in mind I decided to start a new swim across towards the boundary of my peg, as far to the right as I was allowed to go.

To say this worked a treat would be an understatement – I caught straight away in the new swim and went on to win the lake and the zone with 99lb of carp.

Interestingly, I caught only one fish in front of me and to the left, which just goes to show that the fish didn’t move all day.

Had I not gone as close to them as I dared I’d have ended up with very little in the net.

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5) bream love a hybrid feeder attack

Ferry Meadows can be very weedy in places, but this trick got me out of jail during the Feeder Masters Super league.

Peg 4 on Overton certainly held bream – the problem was fishing for them! A conventional cage feeder was impossible. It picked up loads of weed on the retrieve, and at the same time I was never sure my hookbait was not covered in the stuff.

The answer was to go against the norm and fish a large Hybrid feeder with the hookbait buried – this way I knew that I would always be fishing effectively.

A Hybrid feeder is a lot more streamlined, so I picked up far less weed, and it made playing fish a lot easier.

I finished second in the match with just over 40lb of skimmers and bream. Had I fished the open end in a conventional manner I have no doubt I’d have caught less than half of what I ended up with.

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6) chop up some worms and never give up!

Perhaps the most important lesson I learned in 2017 was to go down fighting! It was Round 3 of the FeederMasters Super League at Carr Mill Dam and with 90 minutes to go our Ringer Baits team was up against it.

Rob Wootton was doing well but brother Phil, dad Geoff and I were all well down our sections.

Not having had a bite for an hour, and with nothing to lose, I put in eight big feeders full of finely chopped worm to try and draw some fish into the swim.

I was then genuinely amazed to get a skimmer first cast after the bombardment! I quickly sent the message out for Geoff and Phil to do the same.

As a result I managed to make a bit of a comeback from probably 12th to seventh in section. Phil nicked a second and Geoff finished with a ninth.

Boosted by Rob’s second place, these scores were enough to win us the team event on the day, when with 90 minutes to go it had looked all over for us.

I think the message here is that all too often we sit there catching very little, having accepted our fate, and are even preparing our excuses for after the match along the lines of how ‘the fish just weren’t there’!

Looking back, there were fish present in my swim – I just had to make them have it rather than wait for them to do so on their own!

Top 10 river fishing tips with Dave Harrell

This season I think we’ll be in for some very good fishing, now that most of our rivers have received a welcome flush through of water. If you’ve not been on a river for a while, why not do yourself a favour and get out there? I think you might well be pleasantly surprised at what’s on offer. Here are a few ideas to point you in the right direction…

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1) Target barbel 

Over the next few months I’ll be setting some days aside to go on the Trent, Severn and Wye, and I’m hoping to beat my personal best fish of 13lb 12oz which fell to feeder-fished halibut pellets. I’ve had float-caught specimens to 12lb-plus, so fingers crossed I’ll have a new personal best soon!

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2) Target bream

Bream shoal up at this time of the year and if you drop on them you could be in for a bonanza of a day! 

The very best way is with an open-end groundbait feeder and worms.

Keep the feeder going in regularly every few minutes for the first hour then leave it in a bit longer as each hour goes by. I normally start with a 3ft tail, then shorten if I’m getting a lot of bites, or lengthen it by a foot or two if not many bites are forthcoming. 

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3) Target perch

We’re entering a period of the season now that is possibly the best time for big perch. All rivers seem to now hold good stocks of these fish, and there are some specimen-sized lumps there for the taking. 

My favourite way to catch them is with pole gear and a lobworm on the hook. Feed the swim with a bait dropper filled with chopped worm
and caster. 

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4) Try a pole 

A long pole gives you perfect presentation and puts you back in the same place every time. Used in conjunction with hollow elastics, it’s possible to land very big fish on one too. 

This season I’ve had barbel to nearly 10lb on pole gear, and while I’m not advocating that everyone switches to a pole for that species, it does go to show what is achievable. 

5) Target chub

At this time of year, try floatfishing for chub off the bottom with waggler gear.

I’ve had loads of big weights in autumn by fishing 4ft to 6ft deep with just a couple of No8 shot down the line and using single or double maggot on the hook. 

Remember, though, you have to keep the feed going in regularly and make sure that your hookbait is dropping through the feed.   

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6) Use bigger floats 

To conquer the flow you might need to fish quite heavy sticks, Bolos and wagglers. A 6g or 8g float should be used with at least a 4lb mainline, possibly even heavier if there are a lot of big fish in the swim.

7) Target roach 

Good nets of roach are being caught all over the country at present. You can target them in so many ways, but the best way to my mind is with float gear. 

Seed baits have been working well lately, but with lowering air and water temperatures I’d recommend you put your faith in maggots and casters over the next couple of months. 

8) Check river levels 

There’s nothing worse than turning up at a river only to find it high and coloured. 

You can aviod this by visiting the Environment Agency website. Enter the river and area you intend to fish and the latest levels will be revealed. Here’s the link: https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/river-and-sea-levels

9) Try a whip 

With a long whip you know you are fishing in the same spot every run down. Keep the feed going in and you can end up with a lot of fish in front of you that are fairly easy to catch. I elasticate my tips with hollow elastic, providing a buffer against snap-offs if you hook a big fish.  

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10) Try different baits

We can all get set in our ways when it comes to baits, but one thing I have noticed over the past few years is that maggots and casters in the feeder seem to catch a lot more barbel and chub than pellets. 

You’ll need to fish a river that is fairly clear to achieve the best results with these baits, but they’re well worth trying if you’re struggling to catch on pellets.  

15 fishing tips for bigger river catches

With the river season well underway we have put together a list with the help of top river angler Dave Harrell, of the top 15 fishing tips to try this coming weekend.

If you’ve not ventured out on to running water yet, do yourself a favour and do so this weekend, you won’t be disappointed, I promise you. 

GET ON A PELLET FEEDER FOR BARBEL

'The best thing that ever happened for the pleasure angler' is how i'd describe the use of pellets fished through a swim feeder. Hair-rig an 8mm halibut pellet and put 4mm offerings through a swimfeeder. Hair-rig an 8mm halibut pellet and put 4mm offerings through a blackened feeder, and if there's a barbel in the vicinity it will soon show interest. 

FEED SEEDS FOR ROACH

One of my favourite summer approaches for roach is the use of hemp and tares. It's a really cheap way of fishing as you don't need much of either. Just feed six to 10 grains of hemp and the odd tare, then present a single tare just off the bottom with a lightly shotted pole rig, and you'll soon be putting redefines in the net.

TRY FAST SHALLOW WATER!

Too many anglers walk past fast-flowing shallow swims where there arnt many fish at this time of year.As long as you can find 3ft of water or more, there’s a good chance that the swim will hold chub and barbel, so don’t ignore swims just because they are fast. 

USE CARP PELLETS FOR CHUB

In the same way that halibut pellets are good for catching barbel, fishmeal pellets make a great feed and hookbait for chub. On rivers where there are a lot of chub present, feed with 6mm pellets and use a banded 8mm pellets on the hook. On more difficult waters, feed 4mm pellets and use a banded 6mm pellet on the hook. You don’t need to feed loads – a pint or two will normally be ample.

Break out the long Pole

Long poles have made fishing for silver fish much easier than it ever used to be on some of our slower-moving rivers. Try using light strung-out rigs and, as a rough guide, use 0.10g for every foot of water. A swim that is 4ft deep should therefore be tackled with a 0.40g float. Use No8 shot in the main, with a No9 or a No10 as your bottom shot, positioned around 6ins to 10ins above the hook.

Don't Fish Too Light

If big fish are your target, it can sometimes pay to go for them with pole gear but make sure everything is strong enough to cope with fish such as barbel. For me, that means 0.20mm to 0.23mm rig lines and hooklengths just a little bit thinner than that. Feed the swim either with groundbait via a pole cup or with a bait dropper.

Try A Float For Barbel

Floatfishing for barbel is so exciting, and if you’ve never done it, I would urge you to do so this summer. Keep things simple and use 6lb-8lb mainlines, Truncheon Wagglers or Balsa Missiles and strong hooks from size 14 to 10. A bunch of maggots fished over loosefeed of casters and hemp will soon get fish feeding if they’re in your swim. Try to find swims from 4ft-6ft deep, either running up to or away from fords, and there’s a good chance barbel will be present.

Dig Out A Crumb Feeder

While they don’t fight as hard as barbel, I love catching big bream with a groundbait feeder approach. It’s possible to put together some huge weights when there is colour in the water. Use casters and chopped worms through the feeder with worms on the hook. A 3ft tail that is lighter than your mainline is essential in case of snags.

Catch Perch On Worms

Most of the rivers now hold very good stocks of perch, and they're a great fish of target with both running line and pole gear. If the flow is slight, feed the swim by hand but if there is any pace, a bait dropper works better. Feed a combination of casters, hemp and chopped worm with worms on the hook. 

Experiment With Tall Lengths

This is an area of river feeder fishing where I think a lot of anglers miss out on getting better catches by not changing anything. While 2ft 6ins-3ft is often a very good starting point, try shorter tails if you’re missing bites and go much longer, up to 5ft or 6ft, if you’re not getting any bites at all. 

Shallow Up For Chub

A lot of anglers miss out on good chub catches in deep water by setting the rig too deep and not feeing frequently enough. I've had some really big catches fishing just 3ft to 4ft in 12ft of water but the only way you can make is work is by feeding every few seconds with a catapult.Keep busy and if there are chub in the area, you will soon find out!

Master The Bold 

I won the first-ever match in this country on Bolo gear, 25 years ago on the Severn with a 24lb catch of roach. Back then we all thought you had to use a long telescopic rod, but while these still play a big part, there are days when you can use very light Bolo rigs in conjunction with 13ft and 14ft rods for good catches. This is a fantastic way to present your hookbait if the conditions are favourable. 

Ball It In For Silvers!

A big groundbait bombardment at the start of a session when there are a lot of roach or skimmers present can often be the best approach. Try putting in six to 10 balls to begin with and then fish over it with a bulk-shotted pole rig. My favourite mix for this is a 50/50 blend of Pro Natural and Pro Natural Extra, with a little soil added for weight. 

Try Hollow Elastics

It took me a while to get into hollow elastics for river fishing but I’m totally sold on them now, especially in situations where bigger fish play a part in winning catches. I use Daiwa Hydrolastic in black, grey and white for big fish and yellow, pink and blue for the smaller ones.  

Lay A Trap For Tench

Not all our rivers hold tench, but on those that do, it’s worth laying a trap of groundbait, casters and chopped worm at the bottom of ledges and then leaving it alone for an hour or two before trying it. Doing this I’ve landed some really big specimens from the Warwickshire Avon. 

Experiment With Tall Lengths

This is an area of river feeder fishing where I think a lot of anglers miss out on getting better catches by not changing anything. While 2ft 6ins-3ft is often a very good starting point, try shorter tails if you’re missing bites and go much longer, up to 5ft or 6ft, if you’re not getting any bites at all. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 10 fishing tips for catching more on the rivers

With the river season now well underway we thought we would put together a list of the top 10 fishing tips to help you catch more fish on the rivers. With these tips you are guaranteed to get your river fishing season off to a flyer.  Check out our list below and let us know what fishing tip you will use on your next session! 

Cast down the middle for bream

The habits of bream on rivers don’t alter much in summer from back in the winter – they still prefer deep water, which is almost always found smack down the middle of the river. A tried-and-tested ploy is to cast two-thirds of the way across. If bites fade away, go even farther across to where the river begins to shelve up towards the far-bank shallows.

Walk the banks

Not sure where to fish? Visit at dusk and walk the banks in search of your quarry. Bream and tench will give themselves away by rolling just before it gets dark, and roach will also top regularly – they won’t move far from these spots so you can avoid a lot of disappointment by putting in the miles.

Always pick cover

Try to choose a river swim offering some sort of feature. This could be a reed bed or a tree on the far bank, some lily pads close in, or a moored boat. Whatever it is, fish will live close to it and it will give you another option to fish to during your session, normally with a feeder or waggler cast

Be a slacker

Check out the slacks for roach and chub, where the river’s main flow meets a calmer area. On the edge of this will be something called a ‘crease’, which allows the fish to head into the main current to pick off food that’s been washed down the river before heading back into the quieter water.

Find the fast water

Early-season rivers can suffer from lack of rain, which in turn reduces the rate of flow. On shallow venues, any such swims can be devoid of fish. To stack the odds in your favour, seek out the shallowest swims that will generate faster, oxygenated water. This is what the chub and barbel, in particular.

Seek out the Depths

Early-season rivers can suffer from lack of rain, which in turn reduces the rate of flow. On shallow venues, any such swims can be devoid of fish. To stack the odds in your favour, seek out the shallowest swims that will generate faster, oxygenated water. This is what the chub and barbel, in particular, 

Watch the tide

Tidal rivers really come into their own throughout the summer. Although they can be fearsome places, with deep water and a fast flow that can change direction during a session, they will offer brilliant roach and bream sport. To get the best out of them, check a tide table online and combine your visit with a tide that’s ebbing (running out to sea) all day. This will produce the most fish.

Weed equals fish

A pain it may be, but where big fish are concerned, weed is prime real estate. Tench, big perch, eels and even barbel will stick close to the weed for a source of natural food and a bit of sanctuary, so it’s always worth feeding some chopped worm just over the weed to try for a big fish throughout the day.

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Bait up for success

Pinning down a bream shoal on a river or big lake can be difficult in a short five-hour session, so do yourself a favour by spending a few evenings prior to fishing putting some bait in. Known as prebaiting, this action gives the fish a few large helpings of bait in advance and will get them into the area early doors. Keep it simple with corn, pellets, hemp and plain brown crumb groundbait.

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Go early and late

Blinding sunshine and warm temperatures rarely do the fishing any good, especially if you are after bream and tench on a river or lake. You’re far better off going early or late before the sun gets up, the mercury rises and it’s more productive for you to soak up the rays.

Your guide to fishing a weir pool

If you're looking to catch an abundance of different species on a river this season then you really need to give a weir pool a try. 

Weirs are a haven for a number of species thanks to the warm, oxygenated water that’s constantly being flushed through the swim. Food items naturally collect in the basins of weirs too, and there’s plenty of underwater features to create the perfect home for predatory species such as pike, perch and zander. 

However, weir pools can be quite daunting for those who have never fished one before, so Angling Times is here to help. Here’s our exclusive overview of these fantastic river structures which will explain where you can expect to find each species and what tactics you can use to catch them, whatever you fish for.

Dace

dace are widespread in weir pools. They, too, thrive in shallow water much like the minnows, and can be found in numbers at the tail end of the weir. A trotted stick float or waggler with bronze maggots will find plenty of bites from these stunning fish – with the odd roach, perch and minnow too. 

Roach

Roach can be caught from most areas. In the summer they can shoal up in shallow water over the gravel at the end of the weir, but will also drift into the deep hole created by the main flow. A maggot feeder is hard to beat for a weir pool roach, but watch out for those pike, which love to snap up a hooked roach as you wind it in.

Minnow

Those of you who have fished with maggots or pinkies on a river will have caught plenty of minnows in your time. These tiny fish thrive in shallow water with lots of gravel, and can be found relatively close to the bank at the tail end of a weir. Although regarded as an afterthought to many anglers, those looking to catch a big perch from a weir pool won’t find a better bait than a live minnow.

Chub

chub love gravel swims and can be found in all areas of the weir pool. You’ll find you will catch a lot of chub while fishing for the barbel, but if you want to target them deliberately few things can surpass a large piece of breadflake or a whole lobworm. They will also take small lip-hooked livebaits. Chub won’t venture far from the main flow, so aim your attack here to catch a few.

Bream

A weir pool is a great place for bream to pick up food items that have been washed downstream. They are often found in the deep holes at the bottom of the weir pool. Cast a heavy cage feeder stuffed with groundbait or liquidised bread around 5ft from the weir sill and fish flake, double corn or lobworm on the hook.

Barbel

Barbel fishing on a weir pool has to be up there with the best fishing around. These fish love fast, oxygenated water over gravel. When you’ve leaded around and found solid gravel use a bait dropper to introduce boilies, pellets and particles. Over this fish a bomb with a big pellet or chunk of meat to catch. The undercut directly under the sill of the weir also offers a good refuge for these fish. 

Perch

Perch thrive in the snaggy features, as do the juvenile fish they eat! You can find perch under the weir sill, in shallow water and just where the gravel shelf drops off into deeper water. A chubber float with a lobworm is a superb tactic, but maggots will also catch. Big perch can be tempted on spinners, small jigs or lip-hooked livebaits. 

Pike

Wherever there’s an abundance of silverfish such as roach or dace the pike won’t be far away. They’ll often skulk at the bottom of the weir pool or on the gravel shelf, from where they can easily ambush their prey. If there are limited snags at the bottom of the weir a legered roach or lamprey section is hard to beat for a pike. Alternatively a spinner or roach-imitation lure will get a reaction.

Five top tips for your best-ever roach!

It’s well known that specifically targeting big stillwater roach can be tricky. As water temperatures rise, ravenous small fish are quick to clean up a baited area and attack a carefully presented hookbait.

So what can you do to make sure you bank the biggest roach in your swim? Here, exclusively,  are Phil Spink's best tips and tactics to help you beat your personal best this season…

try open-water swims

Big gravel-pit roach tend to hang out in open water, and this is where I’ve had the most success. You won’t get as many bites as you would fishing closer in, but the fish will be bigger.

Bait up regularly 

Keep the bait going in. I recast my feeders regularly and also use a Spomb or a spod to introduce baits such as corn, maggots and casters over the top.

Use marker sticks 

Be accurate. I use marker sticks to measure out both the rods that I’m fishing with and the ones I’m feeding with. Time doing this is well spent.

The short fluoro hooklinks

A 6lb fluorocarbon hooklink will minimise tangles. I tie mine as short as I can, which usually turn out at around 3ins.

Feed little and often

Don’t pile all the bait in at the start. Feeding little-and-often, as you would in a match, is the key to success.

How to catch more roach on a waggler

Silverfish are notorious for spooking easily, but there are ways of helping a shoal to settle.

One of them is to put the pole away and switch to the waggler. Waving a long length of carbon over the top of a big group of roach, rudd, perch and skimmers can put them off feeding at this time of the year. This week England star Darren Cox reveals his top tips for keeping the bites coming on the waggler...

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Essential baits

“When it comes to fishing for roach and rudd on the waggler there are only two baits I will consider – maggots and casters. “Maggots work well when the going gets tough, with casters a better option when you are getting more bites and better stamp fish. “In order to get the shoals competing you need to be really busy with the catapult, firing out 10 freebies every minute or so.

“That said, you may have to cut it back to half that amount at times as the fish could go into a frenzy every time you feed, brushing against the line, moving the float around and giving false bites. “Reduce the feed and the fish will settle down, picking out the few freebies that are present and, in-turn, increasing your chances of them finding the hookbait.”

Light tackle

“Roach are incredible at sensing any resistance in a rig and once they feel something isn’t right, they’ll leave the peg and feed elsewhere.

“To combat this you need to use really light tackle, and 3lb mainline to an 0.10mm or 0.12mm hooklength and a size 18 Kamasan B911 F1 will help trip up a fish every chuck. Always dot the waggler to a pimple to reduce the chances of fish ejecting the bait before you have chance to react.

“Rod choice is also important and one with a soft tip will cushion the strike and reduce fish losses. I use a A Garbolino G System Match 13ft Light Waggler.”

Shotting patterns

“I use two shotting patterns on the waggler, and it is a matter of trial and error on the day to find out which one is best for the session.

“The first aims to get the bait to the bottom quickly. It has a small bulk set a couple of feet from the hook. This will be a starting point, but as soon as I start missing bites it means the fish have come shallow and it is time to change.

“The second set-up has No10 shot strung out down the line. This makes the bait fall slowly and helps me pick off fish on the drop. I will come off bottom a foot to start with, and come even shallower if I continue to miss indications.”

Venue knowledge

“Doing a little homework on the venue will definitely help your catch rate and one of the most important bits of information you can gather relates to the stamp of fish stocked.

“If you are fishing on a lake that has roach averaging 6oz but you are catching them at half that size, then you should make changes to try and increase the stamp. Little tweaks such as altering the depth, changing hookbait and adjusting the position of your shot on a strung-out pattern could achieve this.”

 

Darren Cox's five top tips for float fishing for big roach

A lot of species almost switch off the feed when the temperatures plummet but, for some strange reason, roach seem to do the complete opposite. On days when ice is lining the margins or worse, you can still rely on those redfins to provide a bite every chuck.

The shoals can consist of literally hundreds of fish, so how do you go about picking off the biggest ones in it? This week England international and Garbolino-backed Darren Cox shows you how to keep quality roach coming thick and fast.

 

1) Light rigs

“The biggest of the roach in the shoal are going to the oldest and wisest, and they will ignore a bait that isn’t presented properly. “Light rigs play an important part in this process so you should go no heavier than 0.12mm mainline and an 0.10mm hooklength to a size 18 hook. “Pay special attention to your shotting pattern, making sure it allows your hookbait to enter the feeding zone at a slow pace.”

2) Finiky Feeding

Roach will change the way they feed almost every day. “It is important to work out early in the day whether the redfins are intercepting the bait as it falls through the water or picking it up off the bottom. “If they are plucking at the bait as it sinks, it’s time to use a strung-out shotting pattern to really slow the fall of the hookbait.”                 

3) Unbeatable Baits

“If there are two baits that will guarantee big roach they are hemp and tares. “A size 16 or 18 Kamasan B511 is a light pattern of hook that is perfect for a tare or a grain of hemp. Float choice is also important. and a Garbolino DC12H provides the slow fall of the hookbait that is required. “Feed regularly, firing in 20 grains every few minutes.”

4) Waggler Winner

When the water is clear a waggler can often outscore the pole. “Cast out the float and then count how long it takes for the hookbait to hit the bottom. “You can work out when the bait has touched the deck by placing a small shot just above the hooklength – this will register and make your float sit how you want it once the hookbait has touched bottom.

“If you find that it takes a count to 10 before it hits the deck but the bites are coming by the time you count to five it means the fish are sat at half-depth and it is time to shallow up.”

5) Keep on feeding

“Make sure the feed is going in little and often and you will get the stamp of fish you wish for at some point. “Keep a few maggots trickling through the water column, not letting this rhythm stop at any point during the day. If you do, your chances of bringing specimen roach into the peg will quickly diminish. “If small fish refuse to back away, switch to feeding casters and use two on the hook.”

IDEAL FOR FLOAT FISHING FOR ROACH